Ever Ever After
by perfectromanceinmymind
Summary: Future fic fluff piece. A companion of sorts to "Another Night."
1. Chapter 1

**Just a different something that's been stuck in my head. Not exactly a sequel to "Another Night" but it could be. Anyway, enjoy!**

Married. She was getting married – in less than twenty-four hours, she'd be a wife. They'd been engaged for nearly a year and sometimes it was still hard to wrap her head around the idea.

The proposal itself had been a bit of a shock.

Well, not the fact that he asked – she'd figured that was coming eventually – they'd been living together for a year – two years if you counted the fact they'd both been living in Meredith's house when they first got together. They'd talked about marriage in indirect ways – made vague references to a far-off future in which they were still together. But she hadn't been stressing over it and certainly hadn't been putting any pressure on him.

So it was the actual asking of the question that came as a surprise. She'd figured it would be some special occasion – Valentine's or her birthday or New Year's Eve or something. But it ended up being just some random Tuesday night – well, really it was Wednesday morning – with no significance at all.

It was one of those late nights – early mornings - coming off the night shift – the whole group of them too jazzed to go to bed yet and it was too late (too early) to go to Joe's and they'd all just kinda been hanging around the locker room and then Alex had shrugged and said "I've got beer at home," to which they all laughed and someone (Meredith? Cristina? Lexie?) had snarked, "Yeah, when _don't_ you have beer?"

And so they'd all kinda shrugged and said "what the hell" and they'd all headed over to Alex's house (which none of them could really think of as Alex's house – it would always be Meredith's house – but when she and Derek _finally_ finished the dream house and Lexie moved back in with Mark and April and Jackson got their own place, Meredith decided she couldn't quite bear to sell the place yet, so she let Alex stay, so technically it was his house) and had just sprawled out in the living room – drinking beer at five in the morning, relaxing and swapping bullshit stories.

At some point, she'd gotten up to go to the bathroom and offered to grab refills on the way back and after everyone present had demanded another beer, Jackson had gotten up too, to help her and she'd met up with him in the kitchen and as he handed her half the beer bottles, she'd turned to walk back to the living room and he grabbed her arm.

"April, wait," he said and she turned back to him with a smile.

"There are thirsty people out there," she pointed out, but was also just buzzed enough to not be overly concerned.

He grinned. God, she was beautiful and she made him laugh and she was so smart and just a little crazy – which somehow seemed to make him a little crazy sometimes too - and suddenly he blurted out the words he'd been thinking about for months now. "Will you marry me?" he asked.

Her eyes went wide – almost as wide as that very first night they'd been together, when he'd made that crazy, impulsive offer to be her first.

"Are you drunk?" she finally managed to ask and he shook his head, digging in the pocket of his jeans and producing a small, black box, opening it to reveal a simple, tasteful diamond ring.

"Holy crap, you're serious," she breathed, eyes opened even wider as she stared at the box and then looked back up at him.

He nodded, speaking in a rush. "I've been carrying it around for weeks, trying to figure out the perfect time, the perfect way to ask - and then it just hit me, just now – in this kitchen is where we began – it's where we decided we'd take the leap and get our own place together – so if I was going to ask you to take this leap then I just realized - I had to ask you here."

April laughed. "Oh my God, you're right. You're totally right." Then she stopped laughing and looked serious. "We don't have to have the actual ceremony here though, right?"

He grinned. "Does that mean you're saying yes?"

"Oh! Yes, of course it does, you idiot," she replied excitedly, laughing again as he slid the ring onto her left hand and pulled her in close for a heart-stopping kiss.

"Oh God," came Cristina's voice from behind them. She called back over her shoulder, "They didn't get lost – they're just busy pawing each other." She looked back at the two of them and said "They sent me to come after you because they voted me the one that scares April the most, but if you're going to do _that_, you can just go home." She grabbed some of the beer bottles and went back to the living room as April and Jackson burst into laughter (although it was true – even after years of being co-workers, April was still a little terrified of Cristina) and followed her back to the other room.

"Sorry," April said, a little sheepishly, but still grinning.

Meredith pointed at her. "You two are the only couple currently here. Sneaking off to make out is not allowed."

April glanced at Jackson, the slight tilt of her head and lift of her eyebrows silently asking him if it was okay to share the news and he just grinned. She looked back at Meredith and asked, "Is it okay if we weren't just randomly making out – we were celebrating getting engaged?"

April smiled at the memory as a voice to her left jolted her back to the present.

"You know, I think it's poor wedding etiquette for the bride to look _so_ ridiculously happy," Lexie said with a grin and April rolled her eyes.

"And since when do the matron-of-honor responsibilities include telling the bride to _not_ look happy?" she shot back cheerfully.

Lexie shrugged. "Oh, come on," she said, gesturing in Jackson's direction. "Don't you want him to be the slightest bit afraid you might not show up tomorrow?"

April stared at her for a second, which was the full length of time Lexie was able to keep a straight face.

"Kidding, kidding!" she sputtered between giggles and April couldn't help but join in. Of the many changes in her life in the last few years, the friendship she'd developed with Lexie was one of the things she was most grateful for.

"See, I am fulfilling my biggest responsibility," Lexie said, just a touch smugly.

"And that is?"

"Keeping you from freaking out."

"I'm not going to freak out," April said firmly.

"Yeah, right. You're the biggest control freak I've ever met – _something_ is going to cause you to flip out before this is over," Lexie replied, just as firmly.

"Well, I guess we'll just see what happens, won't we?"


	2. Chapter 2

Lexie raised an eyebrow and April just smiled as they surveyed the room.

"So –" Lexie said. "Your sisters seem okay. Which one is which, again?"

April sighed. "You only think they're okay because you haven't really spent any time with them yet. Anyway," she continued, pointing each one out as she described them, "That's Libby, the oldest. A year older than me. Married to Eric for five years, they have a son and a daughter. He's career military, she's a stay-at-home mom. Then there's me, then Kimmie is four years younger than me. Married to Brett for seven years, two daughters. Also a stay-at-home mom. And then Alice is the baby, almost two years younger than Kimmie. She's the artistic one – went to the UNC School of the Arts in North Carolina and now she teaches dance there. She's married to Rob – she met him at school." She grinned at her friend. "And that's the short version."

Lexie shook her head. "I'm going to remember none of that."

April laughed as one of her sisters approached the bar and got another Bud Light before turning to the other two women.

April frowned. "How many beers have you had, Kimmie?"

Kimmie Kepner Winters rolled her eyes in response to her sister. "Lay off, April. Who are you, mom?"

"No," April shot back, "But I've seen her eyeing you and I know she's counting beer bottles."

"Whatever," Kimmie shrugged. "Listen, who is the totally hot guy talking to Jackson and that other guy? Like, he looks kinda old, but he's still hot?"

April and Lexie turned to look in the direction Kimmie indicated and then Lexie looked back at Kimmie with a glare.

"That's _my_ husband," she said flatly.

"And, incidentally," April added, "where is your husband?"

Kimmie shrugged again. "He's an ass."

"Yes," April agreed patiently, "I know that. But where is he?"

Kimmie sighed. "He took the girls back to the hotel."

"But why?" April asked, sounding confused. "That's why we arranged for the babysitter tonight, so you guys could all enjoy the rehearsal party without your kids."

Kimmie shrugged again. "I know that. But Brett's an ass."

"Ooh," Alice Kepner Carson chimed in happily as she joined the group. "Are we talking about how much we hate Brett?"

"I don't hate him," Kimmie protested half-heartedly. "I just –"

Alice waved a dismissive hand. "Okay, well the rest of us hate him," she said matter-of-factly.

April shook her head. "Okay, I'm not his biggest fan, but is he really that bad?"

"You don't live at home April – you don't know," Alice said, a touch dramatically, as was her habit.

April rolled her eyes. "You don't live in Ohio anymore either," she pointed out.

"We—ll, no," Alice admitted. "But, North Carolina is closer than Seattle, so I go home way more often than you do."

"Look," April said, sounding defensive. "You know I can't help that I don't get home very much." She glanced at Lexie, her face pleading for back-up and Lexie could tell that this was an old discussion. "Our jobs are really demanding – we practically live at the hospital."

"She's right – " Lexie started to say before Kimmie cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah – doctors – surgery – life-saving – etc. We know."

"Okay, then," Lexie muttered under her breath as the last sister joined the conversation.

"I still can't figure out how you convinced mom to let you have this party in a bar," Libby Kepner Mason said, shaking her head in disbelief. "But I guess when you live 2500 miles away, you can get away with a lot."

"I –" April started to say, but Kimmie cut her off.

"My thoughts exactly. Okay, so anyway – if the hot guy talking to Jackson is _her_ " she gestured towards Lexie "husband, then what about the other hot guy they're talking to?"

April and Lexie shared alarmed looks before both shaking their heads.

"That's Alex –" April said, "but trust me –"

"You do not want to go there," Lexie said.

"No, you don't," April agreed. "Also – you. Are. Married."

"That doesn't mean I can't look," Kimmie said, just a hint of a whine in her voice.

"Ah, jeez," April muttered before letting her voice take on a pleading tone. "Please, Kimmie. I've waited a really long time for this, okay? Please don't cause any scenes at my wedding."

"God, April, lighten up!" Kimmie complained and Libby shook her head.

"She does have a point, Kim. No scenes, okay?"

"Okay, _fine_," Kimmie said exasperatedly. "Can we stop talking about me now and discuss far more important topics?"

"Such as?" Alice asked.

Kimmie grinned, a devilish look in her eyes and April groaned inwardly. Whatever subject Kimmie was going to broach, it was _not_ going to be enjoyable.

"How," Kimmie asked, "Out of all the 'Kepner girls'" – it was clear from the tone of her voice and the eye rolls from the other three that they were _all_ tired of being lumped together that way – "_how_ did you end up with the hottest man of any of us? How?"

April stared at her sister for a minute and finally shook her head. "I can't tell if you're genuinely curious or if you're just being a bitch."

Kimmie considered this for a moment. "Both, probably," she finally said.

"Oh, for God's sake," April sighed as she looked across the room and her eyes met Jackson's. '_Help me_!' she pleaded mentally, hoping he would get the message and thankfully he seemed to, arriving at her side a few moments later.

"Ladies," he said, nodding at the other women. "Sorry, I have to steal her – my parents are getting ready to leave," he added before grabbing April's elbow and pulling her away from the group.

"Thank you!" April said as soon as they were out of earshot. "I love my sisters – but God, I hate them too."

"I could kinda see that," Jackson replied. "But I was coming to get you anyway – mom and dad really are getting ready to leave so Grandpa can get back to the hotel."

April nodded as she followed him towards the front door.

"Don't forget," Jackson said as they headed outside. "Grandpa's gonna push Mass Gen every chance he gets…"

April smiled. "I know. He means well, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Jackson sighed.

Outside the bar, they joined Jackson's mother and grandfather, who were waiting for Jackson's dad to bring the rental car around.

Catherine Avery smiled at the couple. "It's been a lovely evening and tomorrow's going to be wonderful. I can't wait to see your dress, April."

"Thank you," April replied, a little self-consciously. "I hope I do it justice."

"You'll be beautiful," Jackson said, squeezing her hand and she smiled at him.

"Your father trained you well," Catherine told her son fondly. "You know all the right things to say, although of course, it's easy when they're true." She turned toward the approaching car. "And here he is now – good night, kids. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, mom," Jackson replied, leaning forward to kiss his mother's cheek and then opening the car door for her and calling across the front seat, "G'night dad!"

His father waved as Catherine got into the car and Harper looked at April.

"He's chosen well in love, my dear – now you just need to help him make the right choice for his career. There's a place for you at Mass Gen as well – consider it a wedding gift. Boston's a wonderful city."

April smiled, glancing at her fiancé just in time to see him roll his eyes and she bit back a laugh. "It's a very generous offer, sir – but we're happy in Seattle," she replied politely, taking Jackson's arm as he straightened back up to stand beside her.

"Good night, Grandpa," Jackson said firmly.

His grandfather scowled good-naturedly, but got in the car and they watched it drive away.

Jackson shook his head. "He never gives up."

"Would you want him to?" April asked. At Jackson's confused look, she elaborated, "Wouldn't it feel – weird – if he wasn't constantly harassing you about that?"

Jackson chuckled. "You have a point. That is why I'm marrying you – you help me keep perspective."

April pouted playfully. "Is that the only reason?"

Jackson grinned. "Well – that and the fact that it's too late to back out now."

"Thanks a lot," April replied as he pulled her close to him and kissed her.

"Is it too late –" April started to say and Jackson interrupted her. 

"Yes. It is definitely too late to back out," he said firmly.

April laughed. "I don't want to back out, dumbass. I want to know if it's too late to elope?"

Jackson thought about it for a moment. "Probably. By the time we could drive to Vegas, it'll be time for the ceremony to start, so we might as well just stick with what we've got scheduled."

April nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me," she grinned, stretching up to kiss him again.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh, no. This is not acceptable. You two cannot hide out here making out while I am stuck making small talk with your insufferable sisters."

April and Jackson laughed as they turned to see Lexie coming outside, frowning at them.

"It's not funny!" she added in an almost-wail.

"Sorry," April apologized between giggles. "We'll come back inside now," she added, taking Jackson's hand as they headed back into the bar and rejoined the party.

They mingled and made small talk for a couple more hours before the party finally broke up and people headed off to their homes or hotels. April and Jackson had decided that neither of them would stay at their apartment that night, so after saying their good-byes, April headed out to stay at Lexie and Mark's house while Jackson went to crash at Alex's place.

Jackson hardly slept at all.

He tossed and turned for hours before finally around 5:30 in the morning; he gave in, picked up his phone and called his fiancée.

"Jackson? 'Severything okay?" He smiled as he realized that she too, was wide awake.

"I can't sleep," he admitted and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank God," she replied. "I can't either."

Jackson laughed. "How pathetic are we?"

"It's pretty sad, isn't it?" April agreed.

"Want to go for coffee?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll pick you up in ten minutes," he promised.

"Okay – wait! We can't – we're not supposed to see each other before the ceremony, right?" She sounded just a touch frantic.

Jackson frowned. "I think I'm just not supposed to see the dress. You're not wearing it already, are you?"

April laughed. "Yeah, I thought I'd try it out as a nightgown. No, I'm not wearing it yet."

"Then I think we're okay. See you in ten. Love you."

"Love you too," April replied before pressing the 'end call' button and climbing out of the bed that she'd hardly slept at all in. She threw a sweatshirt on over the t-shirt and yoga pants she'd put on as pajamas, pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on some shoes before slipping quietly out of the apartment and heading downstairs, walking outside just as Jackson pulled up to the curb.

"Hi," she said with a grin as she climbed in the passenger seat and leaned over to kiss him.

"Hi," he replied, looking at her for a minute and wondering, not for the first time, how it had happened. How had the mildly annoying girl he worked with become the woman he loved more than anything? Life was so funny that way.

They were quiet until after they arrived at the nearest Starbucks and settled into a corner table with their coffees.

"So," she said, taking a sip of her latte, "Why couldn't you sleep?"

Jackson grinned. "You weren't sleeping either – why not?"

She shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I asked first."

He shrugged. "Excited, nervous, freaking out a little."

April shook her head again. "No, you can't freak out!" she said in mock alarm. "_I_ am the designated freak-outer in this relationship."

"I can't have a turn now and then?" he asked.

"Nope," April said with a grin. "It upsets the natural order of things."

"So you were freaking out too?"

"A little bit, yeah," she had to admit. "It's Kimmie's stupid fault," she added. "Wanting to know how I ended up with the hottest husband of all of us – do _not_ let tell her I told you – and then I just started worrying what if you realize how far out of my league you are?" She glanced up at him and then back down at her coffee cup. "Stupid, huh?"

Jackson nodded slowly. "Definitely. But how's this for stupid? I kept thinking about how I'm the only guy you've ever slept with and what if you get bored one day and wish you'd had more experiences or –"

April's head snapped up as she stared at him in disbelief. "Really? You're really worried about that?"

"Well, yeah. A little." At the surprised look on her face, he couldn't help but smile. "What – you think you have the lock on insecurity? Happens to the best of us."

She smiled back at him. "Well, that was a definite ego boost."

"Glad I could oblige," he said dryly and she laughed.

"You know what I mean. And you have absolutely nothing to worry about, by the way."

"You don't either," he replied and they sat there grinning stupidly at each other for a few minutes. Finally April shook her head, glancing out the window where the sun was coming up.

"It's our wedding day," she said quietly and Jackson laughed.

"Yeah it is."

"What a huge, scary, wonderful thought," she said, sounding a little dreamy. "By this time tomorrow, I'll be Mrs. Avery."

"I thought you were still going to be Dr. Kepner?" he commented in confusion.

"Well, legally, professionally, yeah. But personally? Well, even though I've worked hard for a lot of years to become Dr. Kepner – there's a girly throwback part of me that's really, really – giddy – about being Mrs. Avery," April admitted, giggling.

Jackson laughed, reaching across the table for her hand. "As much as I know it's kinda caveman of me, I like the sound of it too."

April took another sip from her coffee cup. "I guess we're ready for this?"

Jackson squeezed her hand. "I know we are. As soon as I saw you this morning, I knew. We'll be fine."

April smiled and Jackson took a deep breath. "Can I tell you something really – well, sappy?"

"You – sappy?"

"Well – that's really the only word I can think of," he grinned and she nodded, indicating for him to continue. "Okay – the night we got together, there was a line from a song that kept running through my head. It went '_and I don't know why, but she's changed my mind_.' I guess it came to mind because we had always just been friends but something about you changed my mind. Anyway, I couldn't remember any other part or who sang it or anything – I could only remember that it had the word 'crazy' in the title. So, I finally, just the other day, got around to Googling the lyric and it was a song called 'Crazy for this Girl' – do you remember it? It came out when we were in college?"

April frowned, trying to place it and then shook her head. "It sounds familiar – but I don't know. I'd probably know it if I heard it?"

Jackson nodded. "Not totally important – the point is, the – whaddya call the part of the song that's not a verse but not a chorus – the bridge? That part goes something like '_and right now, face to face, all my fears pushed aside, right now, I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you._'" His eyes met hers, which were suspiciously bright. "That describes it so perfectly –when I look at you – I know this is right. And I love you."

April smiled, in spite of the tears in her eyes. "I love you too," was all she could manage to choke out in a whisper as Jackson leaned across the table to give her a gentle kiss.

They broke apart and Jackson stood up, offering his hand to her. "Come on. We should both go get some sleep and then we've got somewhere we need to be this afternoon."

"5:00 pm," April said as she took his hand and stood up. "You better not be late."

He shook his head. "Wouldn't think of it. I'll be the one waiting up front."

April laughed. "And I'll be the one in white. Whether or not I should be," she added with a grin and Jackson's laughter mingled with hers as they headed back to his car.


	4. Chapter 4

**I went to a wedding this weekend, so I guess that brought just a smidge of inspiration. I make no promises about when or if I'll write more, but I hope you like this little bit of an addition. Thanks for reading!**

"Busted."

April groaned when Lexie's cheerful voice was the first thing she heard while trying to quietly slip back into the Grey-Sloan home.

"Why are you up so early?" she said in response.

Lexie shrugged. "Just am. And we're not talking about me, we're talking about you. Where _have_ you been?"

"Nowhere. And we're not talking about me either," April replied, trying to get through the room. "I'm going back to sleep for a few hours before I have to get up and get ready for my wedding, remember?"

"Oh, come on," Lexie said, just a hint of whine in her voice. "Let me play wise old married lady and talk you down from your freak-out, puh-lease?"

April laughed. "You're hardly an old married lady – it's not even been a year yet. I think that still counts as newlywed."

"So? Whatever. Then let me play smug newlywed?" Lexie suggested.

April shook her head. "You're crazy."

Lexie laughed and nodded. "Okay. Seriously, where were you? Is everything okay?"

April sighed, giving up on sleep for the moment and perching on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "Everything's fine – I snuck out to meet Jackson for coffee, that's all."

Lexie looked a little smug. "I _told_ you you'd freak out before it was over."

"Nope, not me. _I_ wasn't the one freaking out, by the way – Jackson called me, so there." April flashed a smug look of her own back at her friend.

"Hunh," Lexie said, leaning against the counter and propping her chin in her hands. "Really?"

"Well," April said slowly, cocking her head to one side and considering the phrase. "Not even really freaking out, exactly. Just more – I don't know, plain old nerves, I guess. Anyway, it's fine. Totally fine," she said, sounding a little dreamy.

Lexie smiled. "You guys are so freakin' adorable."

April smiled self-consciously. "I know. You know what he was worried about? That someday I'd regret not having had more experiences, that I'd get bored with him." She shook her head. "Ridiculous, right?"

Lexie looked thoughtful. "Dunno. Maybe not necessarily. He could have a point."

April glared at the other girl. "That is so not what you're supposed to say."

Lexie waved her hand impatiently. "Please, I'm not talking about you. I'm just saying – even people who've had plenty of partners have a moment of pause about the idea of being with one person for their rest of their lives. So – it does make a weird sort of sense that he might actually be concerned about being the only man you ever have been or ever will be with."

April shook her head, a faint hint of red appearing on her cheeks. "Look – I know it's really, really old-fashioned and dorky of me, but I'm pretty okay with only being with one man in my life."

Lexie shrugged. "It's a little dorky, but if it works for you then it's all good."

April smiled sheepishly. "I just – I always loved the idea of like, high-school sweethearts. Or childhood even. There's a certain sort of charm to it."

Lexie nodded. "I get it, the romance of the idea and all. Anyway," she continued, standing up and carrying her coffee cup to the sink, "we've got a couple hours before we have to leave for hair and such. I would get some more sleep if I were you."

April nodded. "Trust me, I know," she replied, also standing up and following Lexie down the hall to the bedrooms.

Once back in 'her' room, she took a deep breath, glancing across the room to where her dress was hanging on the closet door. She shook her head – sometimes she still couldn't believe this was all real. Then she couldn't help but laugh at herself before kicking off her sneakers and crawling back into bed, finally able to fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**It's random and rambling and I'm not sure it makes any sense but it's taken me nearly a year to write 5 chapters because it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would. So this is it for this - although you never know when a one-shot might pop up. Hope you've enjoyed - please let me know!**

April closed her eyes, tilting her head up to accept Jackson's kiss.

It was over – official. They were _married_.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce Doctors Jackson and April Avery!"

April couldn't help the slightly hysterical giggle that escaped her lips as Jackson took her hand and they turned to face the assemblage of family and friends.

Catherine Avery was the first on her feet, beaming and clapping enthusiastically. Across the aisle, Karen Kepner was playing her mother-of-the-bride role a little more traditionally, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, even as she smiled happily.

"I'm so glad my in-laws are normal," Jackson whispered in her ear as they made their way down the aisle, Mark and Lexie behind them, followed by Alex and April's sister Alice.

April laughed. "Hush – I love your mother!"

"Yeah, me too," Jackson acquiesced. "She's just exhausting, sometimes."

His point was proven as their parents reached the vestibule and Catherine swooped down on them, pulling them both into a hug.

"I absolutely couldn't have asked for anyone better for my baby boy," Catherine gushed to April. "I'm so happy for you both."

"Thank you," April replied, hugging her again. "It means a lot to hear that from you."

"I mean it," she said, squeezing her hand before turning to speak to someone else and April turned her attention to the next person offering congratulations.

The next little while passed in a blur from receiving line to pictures to bridal party intros at the reception. By the time April sat down to watch Jackson dance with his mother after her own spin around the floor with her dad, she felt like she'd hardly had a second to breathe.

"His mom is a trip," Alice commented from beside her and April turned to smile at her sister.

"Isn't she though? And she's brilliant – incredibly brilliant." April shook her head. "If I could ever be even half the doctor she is…"

"Whatever," Alice laughed. "You're a great doctor. And a beautiful bride," she added, laughing again at her sister's blush before she frowned at something over April's shoulder.

"What? What's wrong?" April asked, twisting her head around to look for what she was seeing. Then she spotted it.

"Oh," April said. "Kimmie's at the bar again?"

Alice nodded. "I'm pretty sure she was smashed even before the first dance."

"She's not happy, is she?"

Somehow Alice knew she meant unhappy with life in general and she shook her head. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not home much more than you are and you know Libby doesn't say much. But I've been watching her watch Kimmie and Rob said he heard her ask Eric to step in if she gets crazy." She sighed. "All I know is I wouldn't stay in the kind of marriage she has."

"Does she love him? I mean – do you think?"

Alice shrugged. "I really don't know. Sometimes I think she does and then other times I don't. By the time they get back to Ohio, they'll either be separated or she'll be pregnant again. You just can't tell with them."

April shook her head. "You're right. I couldn't do it either."

"Couldn't do what?" Lexie asked as she and Mark got back to the table.

"Be in our sister's crappy marriage," April replied and Alice nodded in agreement.

"Can't say I blame you," Lexie said. "And your sister needs to butt out of my marriage and quit flirting with my husband. Doesn't she?" she asked, looking at Mark.

Mark nodded solemnly. "It's flattering, yet creepy at the same time. Also, I think she's drunk."

April and Alice laughed. "You think right," Alice confirmed before groaning. "Uh-oh. Looks like she's headed for the doctor with the really nice hair."

"Derek?" April asked in alarm, Lexie's expression mirroring hers. "Oh, God."

Mark dismissed their concerns. "Meredith'll kick her ass, don't worry."

April frowned at her husband's (_husband!_) mentor. "I don't really want a brawl busting up my wedding reception."

"Good point," Mark conceded. "We got it covered."

Lexie nodded agreement as Alice gestured in Jackson's direction and instructed, "Go dance with your brand-new husband, make the rounds of the room and thank everyone for coming. I will get our drunk-ass idiot sister out of here."

"Thanks," April replied, already out of her chair and heading across the room to where Jackson was chatting with some other guests.

They made their rounds of the room, thanking everyone for coming. Somehow her sisters managed to get Kimmie out of the room without causing a scene, something for which April would forever be grateful.

It seemed like hours and hours later (but was probably only really about an hour or so) that Jackson was finally able to take his wife back out on the dance floor.

April smiled up at him from her place in his arms. "Not a bad party, huh? Pretty much all happy guests and our one potential disaster averted." She laughed suddenly. "Maybe you spoke too soon when you said your in-laws were normal."

"Maybe," he agreed with a grin. "I'll admit I was thinking more about parents-in-law than sisters-in-law, but as far as that goes, two out of three of them aren't bad."

April rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I can't really be offended, since I pretty much agree with you."

"Exactly. So yeah, it's not a bad party, except for the part where this is the first that I've gotten you to myself for a few minutes since we got here. I thought this was _our_ party!"

April laughed. "Really? C'mon, you know that a wedding isn't about the bride and groom at all, it's about their friends and family. We're probably lucky we're getting to dance together again."

"Somehow, that doesn't seem quite fair."

"Maybe that's why they invented honeymoons," April mused. "To make up for the non-together time of the reception?"

Jackson nodded slowly. "I can buy that theory."

"A whole week – just us," April said, sounding dreamy. "And you're taking me to New York City, just like you said you would. I'm so excited – walking in Central Park, seeing a Broadway show…"

"And plenty of alone time in our room," Jackson added, grinning, and April giggled.

"Of course. That kinda goes without saying," she agreed. It was going to be a wonderful, magical week – a cheesy NYC rom-com come to life. April smiled up at Jackson as he lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers.

"I love you," he said softly, adding teasingly, "Dr. Mrs. Avery."

April laughed. "Love you too, Dr. Mr. Kepner," she retorted and Jackson laughed too as they danced on through the night and into their future.


End file.
